***********************************************************

As Bill Sees It

The Step That Keeps Us growing, p.264

Sometimes, when friends tell us how well we are doing, we know
better inside. We know we aren't doing well enough. We still
can't handle life, as life is. There must be a serious flaw
somewhere in our spiritual practice and development.

What, then, is it?

The chances are better than even that we shall locate our trouble in
our misunderstanding or neglect of A.A.'s Step Eleven--prayer,
meditation, and the guidance of God.

The other Steps can keep most of us sober and somehow functioning.
But Step Eleven can keep us growing, if we try hard and work at it
continually.

Grapevine, June 1958

***********************************************************

Walk In Dry Places
 
Making tough decisions
Decision Making
An AA member in a supervisor's position was faced with the need to
terminate an unsatisfactory employee. Procrastinating about this
unpleasant matter, she found herself wishing that the employee
would suddenly find another job, thus making the termination
ordeal unnecessary.
But further reflection showed that the procrastination was related
to the same problems that had dogged her in her drinking years.
She was a people=pleaser; she felt guilty about inflicting pain on others.
She was finally able to make the tough decision and call the employee
in for termination. In the process, she discovered that a brief prayer
time for preparation and a gentle manner removed some of the pain
for her and the employee being terminated. She learned that the
principles of the program could help her become more decisive
without being brutal.
I'll look over any tough decisions I;ve been putting off and determination
why I'm behaving that way.  Am I prolonging tough decisions just as
I did when drinking?

***********************************************************

Keep It Simple
 
One Day at a Time. Program slogan
This slogan means we are to take with us only the joys and
problems of the present day.
We don’t carry with us the mistakes of the days gone by. We
have no room for them. We are to work at loving others today.
Just today.
It’s crazy for us to think we can handle more than one day at a
time. During our illness, we lived everywhere but in the here
and now. We looked to the future or punished ourselves with
our past. One Day at a Time teaches us to  go easy. It teaches
 us to focus on what really means anything to us: the here and now.
Prayer for the Day:  Higher Power, help me turn the slogans
of my programs into a way of life. Help me to live life moment
by moment, One Day at a Time.
Action for the Day:  Today, I’ll practice living in the present.
When I find myself living in the past or in the future, I’ll bring
myself back to today.

***********************************************************

Each Day a New Beginning

Anger conquers when unresolved.  --Anonymous
Emotions need recognition. But not only attention; they also
need acceptance as powerful dimensions of who we are. Their
influence over who we are capable of becoming is mighty.
Respectful attention and willing acceptance of our emotions,
whether fear or anger or hateful jealousy, takes away their sting.
We can prevent them from growing larger than they are. Like a
child who screams and misbehaves more and more fiercely until
attention is won, our emotions grow larger and more intense the
longer we deny their existence.
Our emotions bless us, in reality. They enrich our experiences.
They serve as guideposts on the road we're traveling. How we
"feel" at any single moment flags the level of our security, how
close we are to our higher power, the level of our commitment
to the program. They serve us well when acknowledged. On
the other hand, when ignored or denied, they can immobilize
us, even defeat us.
My feelings frequent my being, always. They steer my behavior.
They reflect my attitudes. They hint at my closeness to God.

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition

PREFACE

The second edition added the apprentices, the Twelve Traditions, and the directions for getting in touch with A.A.  But the chief change was in the section of personal stories, which was expanded to reflect the Fellowship's growth.  "Bill's Story," "Dr. Bob's Nightmare," and one other personal history from the first edition were retained intact; three were edited and one of these was retitled; new versions of two stories were written, with new titles; thirty completely new stories were added; and the story section was divided into three parts, under the same headings that are used now.

pp. xi-xii

***********************************************************

Alcoholics Anonymous - Fourth Edition - Stories

My Chance To Live

A.A. gave this teenager the tools to climb out of her dark abyss of
despair.

Outwardly I was a young woman who was comfortable with herself. Yet
ever so slowly these actions that I knew deep down were wrong started
eating holes in me. My first reaction was to drink more. The outcome
wasn't what I expected. I continued to raise my intake without the
desired effect. Blackouts became few and far between. It didn't seem
to matter how much I drank or in what combination with other
substances; I could no longer find the relief I sought.

p. 311

***********************************************************

Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

Tradition Eleven - "Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, and films."

The way this restraint paid off was startling. It resulted in more favorable publicity of Alcoholics Anonymous than could possibly have been obtained through all the arts and abilities of A.A.'s best press agents. Obviously, A.A. had to be publicized somehow, so we resorted to the idea that it would be far better to let our friends do this for us. Precisely that has happened, to an unbelievable extent. Veteran newsmen, trained doubters that they are, have gone all out to carry A.A.'s message. To them, we are something more than the source of good stories. On almost every newsfront, the men and women of the press have attached themselves to us as friends.

p. 181

***********************************************************

Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no
future."

"A quiet hour is worth more to you than anything you can do in it."
--Sara One Jewess

"If you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone else"
--Chinese Proverb

A good exercise for the heart is to bend down and help another up.

He who divides and shares is left with the best share.
--Mexican Proverb

"Be kind and merciful. Let no one ever come to you without coming
away better and happier."
--Mother Theresa

If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty
of the sunset.
--Krishnamurti

***********************************************

Father Leo's Daily Meditation

HEAVEN

"If you're not allowed to laugh
in heaven, I don't want to go
there."
-- Martin Luther

When I was a practicing alcoholic, I imagined heaven to be a dull
formal place, rather like a never-ending cathedral. Beautiful, but
serious. My pain and guilt were so great that I rarely laughed, and
when I did it was usually inappropriate and violent: I laughed at
others!

Today heaven is associated with recovery. It is a place of joy,
acceptance and forgiveness. A place where people can be themselves
and where variety abounds. Christians play with people from other
religions -- and the atheists make the music! The laughter of "peace"
abounds. I am "at one" with my Father and all my brothers and sisters.
I am home!

God of Love, when I hear the sound of laughter here on earth, I think
what joy awaits me in heaven.

***********************************************************

"Happy are the people to whom such blessing fall; happy are the
people whose God is the Lord."
Psalm 144:15

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save
his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it."
Matthew 16:24-25

***********************************************************

Daily Inspiration

Envision the joy of victory when you are faced with troubles and you will
clearly see what direction you must take. Lord, with You my storm will
pass and I will grow stronger as I grow closer to You.

Take heart in the beauty of your life because God loves, helps, fights and
wins. Lord, I will never fear because nothing can triumph over Your Will.

***********************************************************

NA Just For Today

Keeping The Gift

"Life takes on a new meaning when we open ourselves to this gift."
Basic Text, p.102

Neglecting our recovery is like neglecting any other gift we've been given. Suppose someone gave you a new car. Would you let it sit in the driveway until the tires rotted? Would you just drive it, ignoring routine maintenance, until it expired on the road? Of course not! You would go to great lengths to maintain the condition of such a valuable gift.

Recovery is also a gift, and we have to care for it if we want to keep it. While our recovery doesn't come with an extended warranty, there is a routine maintenance schedule. This maintenance includes regular meeting attendance and various forms of service. We'll have to do some daily cleaning - our Tenth Step - and, once in a while, a major Fourth Step overhaul will be required. But if we maintain the gift of recovery, thanking the Giver each day, it will continue.

The gift of recovery is one that grows with the giving. Unless we give it away, we can't keep it. But in sharing our recovery with others, we come to value it all the more.

Just for today: My recovery is a gift, and I want to keep it. I'll do the required maintenance, and I'll share my recovery with others.
pg. 276

***********************************************************

You are reading from the book Today's Gift.
Kindness and intelligence don't always deliver us from the pitfalls and traps. --Barbara Grizzuti Harrison
Being human means we'll have hard times along with pleasant ones. Whether with friends, at school, or at home, we'll find reasons for sadness or anger as easily as for laughter. In every part of our lives, we're offered just what we need for growth.
Being the best we know how to be doesn't mean we'll escape confusion or pain. Through the troubling times we learn to trust in a Higher Power; we learn patience; we learn to let go and let God decide outcomes. The troubling times offer us growth and serenity, our keys to happiness.
What hidden gifts will I find in today's troubles?


You are reading from the book Touchstones.
Time never challenged the Indian or worked against him. Time was for silently marking the passing of the seasons. It was a thing to be enjoyed. --Tim Giago
We have a choice as to how we view the passage of time. We can look at it as a gift to be enjoyed, marking the transitions and cycles of life. Or we can think of time as a long, thin string of pressures and frustrations - specific minutes and hours that we try to speed up or slow down. Our relationship to time is a very important part of our recovery.
We are learning to live in the present, one day at a time. We are letting go of the past. The future we place in trust to our Higher Power. Time doesn't work against us or challenge us, it just flows. This day need not be painless or close to paradise for us to live in the present moment. Being aware of our lives without struggling against time makes the day rich and full of meaning.
Today, rather than wrestling with time, I will be aware of my experiences and let time flow.


You are reading from the book Each Day a New Beginning.
Anger conquers when unresolved. --Anonymous
Emotions need recognition. But not only attention; they also need acceptance as powerful dimensions of who we are. Their influence over who we are capable of becoming is mighty.
Respectful attention and willing acceptance of our emotions, whether fear or anger or hateful jealousy, takes away their sting. We can prevent them from growing larger than they are. Like a child who screams and misbehaves more and more fiercely until attention is won, our emotions grow larger and more intense the longer we deny their existence.
Our emotions bless us, in reality. They enrich our experiences. They serve as guideposts on the road we're traveling. How we "feel" at any single moment flags the level of our security, how close we are to our higher power, the level of our commitment to the program. They serve us well when acknowledged. On the other hand, when ignored or denied, they can immobilize us, even defeat us.
My feelings frequent my being, always. They steer my behavior. They reflect my attitudes. They hint at my closeness to God.


You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go.
Trusting Ourselves
Many of us believed that heeding the words of God or our Higher Power meant following rigid rules, an instruction booklet for life.
Many of us now believe differently. The rigid rules, the endless instructions, the exhortation to perfection, are not the words our Higher Power whispers.
The words of God are often those still, small words we call intuition or instinct, leading and guiding us forward.
We are free to be whom we are, to listen to and trust ourselves. We are free to listen to the gentle, loving words of a Higher Power, words whispered to and through each of us.
Today, help me, God; to let go of shame based rigid rules. I will choose the freedom of loving, listening, and trusting.


Today I will find someone who needs my love. Today I will share my strength, hope and experience so that someone else can be reborn. --Ruth Fishel

*****

Journey to the Heart
Embrace Change

You don't have to fear change. What you need to fear, a friend once told me, is things remaining the same. When that happens, life has stopped.

Life is an evolution. Your life is constantly, quietly evolving each moment into something new, something different, something that adds gracefully, beautifully, and perfectly to what was. You can trust that process with all its insights, clarity, confusion, and emotions. You can trust that process with its peace, joy, laughter, and its side trips.

Learn to honor and love the process of continual evolution and transformation. It's how things grow. It's how you grow. It's how life is.

Learn to embrace change.

*****

more language of letting go
Be uniquely you

We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples' models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channels to open.
--Shakti Gawain

We have much in common with each other. And recovery, growth, and change are strengthened by honoring these similarities. But each of us is unique. We each have our own strengths, weaknesses, gifts, vulnerabilities-- our own personalities.

The purpose of spiritual growth is not to eliminate the personality. It is to refine and enhance it, and allow each of us to express ourselves creatively.

We are not meant to be just like anyone else. Comparison will leave us uncomfortable, either on the side of pride or of inadequacy.

You are you. The wonder of life comes in finding your own rhythm to the dance, your own way of seeing the world, your own brush stroke, phrase, or special combination.

There is an old story about a writer who goes to his teacher and says, "Teacher, all the stories have already been told. There is no need for me to write. Everything that needs to be said has already been written."

"It's true that there are no new stories," the teacher said. "The universal lessons have been taking place for a long, long time. And the same themes have influenced humanity since time began. But no one sees that story through your eyes. And no one else in the world will tell that story exactly the way you will. Now return to your desk, pick up your pen, and tell the world what you see."

The beauty of the world lies both in our differences and in our similarities. Allow the beauty that is channeled through you to be flavored with your own special perspective on the world.

There's a difference between ego and personality. Drop the ego. Let your personality, in all its glories and foibles and eccentricities, come shining through.

Respect how much you have in common with other people.

Then be uniquely you.

God, thank you for making me unique.

*****

Cultivating Safety
From the Overcoming Fear On-line Course by Debbie Ford

The following is an excerpt from the "Overcoming Fear" on-line course. If you would like to take the entire course, click here.

We can control the quality of our lives if we are willing to face our fears rather than burying, suppressing or avoiding them. Confronting our deepest fears, our terror, is a way out of the agony of our ongoing stories and into the glorious world of empowerment. Almost all of us were terrorized in some way when we were young. For you, maybe it was when you were bullied in school or when one of your siblings locked you in the closet. Something happened to activate the feeling of fear, of sheer terror, and at some point you rejected your fear and made a decision that this was a bad way to feel because you associated it with some negative event.

Now it is time for you to be the adult and take charge of your internal world. You have to be the one to take back your power, even if you're scared. When you are in fear, it's because you believe in that darkness more than you believe in the light. You might believe that if you do enough, read enough, pray enough or chat enough, you can obliterate your fear, but I am here to tell you that it's impossible to make the fear happy. You might think that if you listen to it long enough, it will go away. But it won't. You must confront it. You must take back your power. You say, "Yes Debbie but how?" Well here is the antidote for your fear: LOVE IT. Don't try to discard or rid yourself of your fear, because you probably aren't strong enough. But what you can do is bring the light to the darkness. That light is love. When faced with your fear, you can ask yourself, "How can I love myself even when I'm in the middle of my fear? You can turn around and face your fear. You can stop te! rrorizing yourself further for being scared and instead find out how old that fear is. You can ask yourself, "How many years, months, weeks, days and minutes have I been terrorized by the same thing?" Count it out and write it down. And then find some sweet compassion for the kid in you that is scared to death.

The greatest way to take on your fear is to create safety for yourself. Safety is the key to courage. And action is your way of showing yourself that you are safe and that you can take care of yourself.. For example, if you hold a secret fear that you could become a bag lady but have no financial plan, then you're going to be continuously terrorized. Get a money mentor. Find out how much money you need to put away and then start on that path. If you're afraid that someone is going to attack you, get trained in self-defense. If you're afraid your business partner is going to extort you, have an agreement drawn up that protects you. If you're fearful that your partner is going to leave you, find out what you would need to do to know that, even if they did leave, you're a desirable and extraordinary person? If you're scared that you're going to pass your limiting beliefs and issues on to your kids, what transformational class would you have to attend or what coaching could you ! participate in to ensure that you're giving them your highest? If you're scared you're going to get sick, what measures could you take right now to nurture your well-being? Add tai chi or yoga classes to your weekly schedule and seek out an integrative healthcare practitioner (such as an acupuncturist or body worker) to mitigate stress and keep your body in balance.

Since ultimately you are the one that can make you feel safe, what environment do you need to create around you? What support structures could you put in place? Ask yourself where in your life are you not protecting yourself - not taking care of yourself. What subtle adjustment or quantum step can you take this week to put in a measure of safety somewhere in your life where you are fearful? Whether it's adding antioxidants to your daily regimen, putting money in savings, having an alarm system installed, getting insurance, or praying to the divine, do what it takes to ease your heart and mind. Make a commitment this week. Find an area where you have fear and take it on! Published with permission from Daily OM

*****

A Day At A Time

Reflection For The Day

For a considerable period of time after I reached The Program, I let things I couldn’t do keep me from doing the things I could. If I was bothered by what a speaker or other people said, I retreated, sulking, into my shell. Now, instead of being annoyed or defensive when someone strikes a raw nerve, I try to welcome it — because it allows me to work on my attitudes and perceptions of God, self, other people, and my life situation. We may no longer have active addiction, but we all certainly have an active thinking problem. Am I willing to grow — and grow up?

Today I Pray

May God give me courage to test my new wings — even a feather at a time. May I not wait to be entirely whole before I re-enter the world of everyday opportunity, for recovery is ongoing and growth comes through challenges. May I no longer make desperate stabs at perfection, but keep my aims in sight and develop as I live — a day at a time.

Today I Will Remember

Things I can’t do should not get in the way of things I can.

************************************************** *****************

Food For Thought

Scales

During our dieting days, we probably spent much time getting on and off the scales. In OA, we are advised not to weigh more than once a month. Though we want to get rid of excess weight, we do not want to be obsessed with pounds and ounces. This program involves much more than weight control, and to make the scales our ultimate judge is to miss the mark.

If we are honestly abstaining from compulsive overeating and working our program, we will lose weight. The rate of loss will vary from person to person and from week to week. Even, and especially, when the scale registers what we want it to register, we continue to honestly abstain and work the OA program.

In OA, we are more concerned with the progress we make in controlling our disease than we are with our specific weight on any particular day. If our illness is under control, weight control will follow. Scales are useful for measuring physical progress, but they are not a god.

May I use the scales wisely?

*****************************************

One Day At A Time

ACCEPTANCE
"And acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.
I need to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed
in the world as what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes."

The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

Dissatisfaction has been part of my disease and it played a significant role in bringing me to recovery. It is the human condition to dislike where we are. Like many of us, I used to think that only some mystical, non-existent person, place, thing or situation would make me happy. If only my spouse loved me as I want to be loved; if only the boss would see and appreciate my contributions; or if only my house and children were perfect. I sat year after year speculating and fantasizing my life away.

The Serenity Prayer tells me to ask God for the wisdom to know His will for me. I lived in darkness and despair until I learned that my Higher Power is here. He is in charge. I must, through prayer and meditation, seek God's will and do the next right thing. I need to cooperate with my Higher Power to change my attitude. To that end, I do the footwork just for today.

One day at a time...
I will seek and accept God's will for my life.
~ Danny

*****************************************

AA 'Big Book' - Quote

We have seen the truth demonstrated again and again: 'Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.' Commencing to drink after a period of sobriety, we are in a short time as bad as ever. If we are planning to stop drinking, there must be no reservation of any kind, nor any lurking notion that someday we will be immune to alcohol. - Pg. 33 - More About Alcholism

Hour To Hour - Book - Quote

The slogans we are learning are like combinations to unlock something of value and make it accessible to our mind. Even if we don't like the slogans hanging on the walls and repeated at meetings, we at least consider the possibility of opening our mind to it's intent.

What situation, God, can I find this hour where a slogan will lead me to the solution?

I Will Be Me

I will be me, today. One thing I never seem to do well at, is trying to be someone else. I can imitate and learn from others, but I cannot be them. Only they know how to do that, it's a natural outgrowth of all that they have experienced in life, of all they are. That's the bad news. The good news is no one can be me as well as me. Being me builds on who I already am. It's exercise for my personality and my spirit. If I allow myself to actualize my own unique gifts and visions they will have originality to them, a freshness.

- Tian Dayton PhD

Pocket Sponsor - Book - Quote

'When adversity strikes, my message is always, Even this will pass...and better days than we have ever experienced will come.' ~Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

I can't run from God, so I let God run me.

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Book" - Book

God speaks through people, don't worry about which ones.

Time for Joy - Book - Quote

Today I will find someone who needs my love.

Today I will share my strength, hope and experience so that someone else can be reborn.

Alkiespeak - Book - Quote

'Analysis' has 'anal' in there. That tells me something. - Trip S.

*****************************************

AA Thought for the Day

September 22

Right Living
Service, gladly rendered, obligations squarely met, troubles well accepted or solved with God's help,
the knowledge that at home or in the world outside we are partners in a common effort,
the well-understood fact that in God's sight all human beings are important,
the proof that love freely given surely brings a full return,
the certainty that we are no longer isolated and alone in self-constructed prisons,
the surety that we need no longer be square pegs in round holes but can fit and belong in God's scheme of things --
these are the permanent and legitimate satisfactions of right living for which no amount of pomp and circumstance,
no heap of material possessions, could possibly be substitutes.
- Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 124

Thought to Ponder . . .
A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
Y A N A = You Are Not Alone.

~*~A.A. Thoughts For The Day~*~

Faith
"While drinking, we were certain that our intelligence,
backed by will power, could rightly control our inner lives
and guarantee us success in the world around us.
This brave philosophy, wherein each man played God,
sounded good in the speaking,
but it still had to meet the acid test:
How well did it actually work?
one good look in the mirror was answer enough."
c. 1967AAWS, As Bill Sees It, p. 225

Thought to Consider . . .
Faith is the substance of things hoped for,
and the evidence of things not seen

*~*~*AACRONYMS*~*~*
F A I T H = Finding Answers In The Heart

*~*~*~*~*^Just For Today!^*~*~*~*~*

Another Difficulty
From: "To Wives"
Still another difficulty is that you may become jealous of the attention he bestows on other people, especially alcoholics. You have been starving for his companionship, yet he spends long hours helping other men and their families. You feel he should now be yours. The fact is that he should work with other people to maintain his own sobriety. Sometimes he will be so interested that he becomes really neglectful. Your house is filled with strangers. You may not like some of them. He gets stirred up about their troubles, but not at all about yours. It will do little good if you point that out and urge more attention for yourself. We find it a real mistake to dampen his enthusiasm for alcoholic work. You should join in his efforts as much as you possibly can. We suggest that you direct some of your thought to the wives of his new alcoholic friends. They need the counsel and love of a woman who has gone through what you have.
2001, AAWS, Inc., Alcoholics Anonymous, page 119

*~*~*~*~*^ Grapevine Quote ^*~*~*~*~*

"With the help of the Fellowship, the Twelve Steps, and a Higher Power ... I do not have to be a newcomer again."
Montpelier, Vt., March 2003
"Confessions of a Reluctant Newcomer"
Emotional Sobriety II

*~*~*~*~*^ Big Book & Twelve N' Twelve Quotes of the Day ^*~*~*~*~*

"Let no alcoholic say he cannot recover unless he has his family
back. This just isn't so. In some cases the wife will never come
back for one reason or another. Remind the prospect that his
recovery is not dependent upon people. It is dependent upon his
relationship with God. We have seen men get well whose families have
not returned at all. We have seen others slip when the family came
back too soon."
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, Working With Others, pg. 99~

One of the many doctors who had the opportunity of reading this
book in manuscript form told us that the use of sweets was often
helpful, of course depending upon a doctors advice. He thought
all alcoholics should constantly have chocolate available for its
quick energy value at times of fatigue. He added that occasionally in
the night a vague craving arose which would be satisfied by candy.
Many of us have noticed a tendency to eat sweets and have found this
practice beneficial.
~Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition, The Family Afterward, pg. 133~

Though they knew they must help other alcoholics if they would remain sober, that motive became secondary.
-Alcoholics Anonymous p. 159

Most of us would declare that without a fearless admission of our defects to another human being we could not stay sober.
-Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions p. 57

Misc. AA Literature - Quote

When we insisted, like infants, that people protect and take care of us or that the world owed us a living, then the result was unfortunate. The people we most loved often pushed us aside or perhaps deserted us entirely. Our disillusionment was hard to bear.
We failed to see that, though adult in years, we were still behaving childishly, trying to turn everybody - friends, wives, husbands, even the world itself - into protective parents. We refused to learn that overdependence upon people is unsuccessful because all people are fallible, and even the best of them will sometimes let us down, especially when our demands for attention become unreasonable.
We are now on a different basis: the basis of trusting and relying upon God. We trust infinite God rather than our finite selves. Just to the extent that we do as we think He would have us do, and humbly rely on Him, does He enable us to match calamity with serenity.

Prayer for the Day: My First Prayer - I surrender to Thee my entire life, O God of my understanding. I have made a mess of it, trying to run it myself. You take it, the whole thing, and run it for me, according to Your will and plan.